1. Technical Field
The technical field is related generally to bulk tankers and bulk tank trailers. More particularly, the technical field is related to such a tanker or trailer and the configuration of structure associated with one or more of its slide plates along which particulate cargo material may slide.
2. Background Information
Bulk tankers and bulk tank trailers or pneumatic tank trailers are amongst the many types of vehicles used for hauling materials over highways and the like. They typically have several hoppers or cones which facilitate the discharge of the bulk material from within the tank into a discharge line through which air is pumped to discharge the material to a rear end of the trailer. Valve assemblies are typically located at the bottom of the hoppers whereby the hoppers may be opened or closed to respectively allow the flow of the bulk particulate material from the hoppers into the discharge pipe and to cut off this flow. Forward and rearward slide plates may be used to facilitate the sliding of particulate material downward within the hoppers. Welds along such slide plates are often broken because of the design of the slide plates. Such breakage is especially common in bulk tankers due to the internal pressurization of the tank. There is thus a need in the art to overcome this problem.